not afghanistan. not al qaeda. but our debt. since january, 2009, $3.7 trillion has been added to the national debt. current our debt stands at $14.3 trillion. and i'm told if you add in the cost, the present day cost of all the promises that irresponsible people who stood here before me have made to the american people, that the cost would be over $70 trillion. many americans, including this one, can't even conceptualize that. can't count that high. and that's not their fault. that's this body's fault. there's a lot of fear mongering going on by people who want us to spend more. they have seen these tactics work in the past. bank bailouts. massive spending bills. even if the calamity forecast was to come to pass, it doesn't change the fact that the debt crisis we face is our fiscal sin. generations before ours and ours are responsible for it. not my kids. not your kids. and not our grandchildren. and if addressing it hurts in the short term, then i say, so be it. i reject the idea that we would pass this mess on to our kids for